November/December 2024 | Accessible Documents

Course Dates

Opens: November 4 @ 12:00 a.m. MT

Closes: February 3 @ 11:59 p.m. MT

Course Design

Time-Released Modules

This course is organized into four Modules that are usually delivered one at a time for four consecutive weeks.  Due to the amount of U.S. holidays in November and December, this November cohort of the course is self-paced—all of the Modules are available starting November 6th. 

If you do not have prior experience with self-paced online learning, you may want to consider enrolling in the next 4-week cohort that starts on January 6, 2025.

There are between eight (8) and sixteen (16) hours of total Course Activities.  Some participants will be able to finish a Module in less time than this, while others will require more time.  You must complete all course activities by the Closing Date sixty (60) days after the course opens (excluding weekends and U.S. public holidays). 

Independent Study

This independent-study course is designed for an adult learner. Each participant must have the ability to:

• Read and follow written and verbal instructions.
• Manage her or his time in order to complete the course within the allotted time.
• Proactively communicate with the facilitator any issues that will impact his or her ability to complete the course.

Software Requirements

All software should be updated to the most current version available.

Operating Systems

This course requires either of the following operating systems/versions:

• Windows
  • Windows 7 and newer
• Mac
  • Mac OSX 10.6 and newer

Browser

Canvas Catalog supports the following browsers/versions:

• Chrome
  • Chrome 128 and 129
• Firefox
  
  • Firefox 130 and 131 (Extended Releases are not supported)
• Microsoft Edge
  • Edge 126 and 127 (Windows only)
• Safari
  • Safari 17 and 18 (Macintosh only)

Please note: Canvas Catalog does not support Microsoft Explorer.

Applications

This course requires the following applications/versions:

• Microsoft Office 365
  • Word and PowerPoint
  • Excel*
• Adobe Acrobat Professional DC

* Required to complete the optional Module 5.

Course Resources

There are four types of Course Resources:

• Canvas Support
• Terms
• Software Developer Resources
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2)

Canvas Support

Technical support for this course is provided by the Instructure, the developer of Canvas Catalog through:

• Canvas Guides: Find answers to common questions.
• Chat with Canvas Support: Live chat with Canvas Support!
• Canvas Support Hotline: +1-833-713-1203

Terms

Here are some high-level terms that will be used throughout the course. These terms are narrowed to the scope of this course, and may not apply to other contexts.

• assistive technology: hardware and/or software that acts as a user agent, or along with a mainstream user agent, to provide functionality to meet the requirements of users with disabilities that go beyond those offered by mainstream user agents.
• document: a Word or PowerPoint file, or a PDF created from a Word or PowerPoint file.
• image: a generic term for all types of non-text content (pictures, graphics, charts, etc.).
• operating system: software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs (Windows or Mac for this course).
• PDF (Portable Document Format): a file format used to present and exchange documents reliably, independent of software, hardware, or operating system.
• PDFMaker: a plug-in for creating PDFs that is automatically installed into Word and PowerPoint by Adobe Acrobat Professional.
• screen reading software (screen reader): a software application that converts digital information into synthesized speech.
• screenshot: a digital image captured from a computer monitor.
• source (native) document: a Microsoft file in one of two  proprietary formats: .docx for Word, and .pptx for PowerPoint.
• structure: information in a document that is used by assistive technologies to present content correctly and/or give users the ability to customize the presentation.
• user interface: the visual and programming elements that allow a user to interact with software running on a computer system.

Software Developer Resources

You may find it helpful to review some of the resources for creating accessible documents that Microsoft and Adobe have developed. The following pages provide links to webpages and videos related to topics that are covered in this course, organized by operating system:

• Microsoft Resources
• Adobe Resources

WCAG 2

WCAG 2 is the de facto "standard" for procurement requirements, discrimination complaints, and accessibility lawsuits. These guidelines are an important tool for measuring and understanding the accessibility of electronic documents.

The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2) are organized into four Principles:

• Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
• Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable.
• Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understood by all users.
• Robust: - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

There are 13 Guidelines that are organized under these four Principles. In Section 1 of Module 1, in the Overview of Document Accessibility: Part 2 video you will learn about tests called Success Criteria.